Canon: 7mpix, 4x zoom digicam (UPDATED) By
Michael R. Tomkins, The Imaging Resource (Wednesday, February 21, 2007 - 23:00 EST)The Canon PowerShot A560 digital camera has a resolution of seven megapixels and is coupled to a Canon-branded 4x optical zoom lens in a body that includes both a 2.5 inch 115,000 pixel LCD display, and a real-image optical zoom viewfinder.
Other Canon A560 features include include 35mm-equivalent focal lengths ranging from 35 - 140mm, a maximum aperture that varies with focal length from f/2.6 at wide angle to f/5.5 at telephoto, nine-point autofocusing, a maximum ISO sensitivity of 1600, three metering modes (evaluative, center-weighted average, and spot), seven white balance modes, and eleven scene modes.
The A560 offers a useful 30 frames-per-second VGA video mode with sound in AVI (Motion JPEG) format, and supports SDHC as well as SD/MMC memory cards. The PowerShot A560 is powered by two AA batteries, and interfaces include USB 2.0 (high-speed) and A/V (NTSC or PAL) connections.
The Canon PowerShot A560 is priced at US$230, and ships from March 2007.
3072 x 2304 (7.1 megapixels) 3072 x 1728 (5.3 megapixels) 2592 x 1944 (5.0 megapixels) 2048 x 1536 (3.1 megapixels) 1600 x 1200 (1.9 megapixels) 640 x 480 (0.3 megapixels)
Image Quality
3 levels
Image Preview / Review
Viewfinder
Yes, Real-image optical zoom
LCD
2.5", 115,000 pixels
Playback Zoom
10.0x max
Lens
Lens Type
Canon Zoom Lens (7 elements in 5 groups, 2 aspherical) 4x optical zoom
Modes: Auto, Auto w/ Red-eye Reduction, Auto w/ Slow Synchro, Flash On, Flash On w/ Red-eye Reduction, Flash On w/ Slow Synchro, Flash Off Range: Auto ISO: 1.5-11 ft./45cm-3.5m (W), 1.5-7.2 ft./45cm-2.2m (T)
Creative
Scene Modes
Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Foliage, Snow, B each, Fireworks, Aquarium, Indoor, Kids & Pets, Night Snapshot
Digital Zoom
up to 4x
Self Timer
Yes, 0 - 30 seconds
Movie Format
AVI (Motion JPEG) with audio Max. clip length: 3,600 seconds () / 180 seconds ()
Storage
Recording Medium
SD/MMC
File System
Complies with Design Rule for Camera File System (DCF)
File Format
JPEG (EXIF 2.2)
Connectivity
Video
Yes, NTSC / PAL switchable
Computer
USB 2.0 High Speed
Power
Battery Type
Alkaline disposable, NiMH rechargeable
Battery Form Factor
2 x AA
Product Bundle
Software
ZoomBrowser EX / ImageBrowser, PhotoStitch, Drivers
Battery / Charger
2 x AA Alkaline disposable battery
Flash Memory
16.0MB MMC-16M MultiMedia card
Other
Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) compliant
Yes
PictBridge Compliant
Yes
Internal Microphone
Yes
Internal Speaker
Yes
Tripod Mount
Yes
Remote Control
No
More Photos
UPDATED 2007-02-22 04:11ET: Canon's official press release, which jointly covers the A560 and the simultaneously announced A570 IS, has been added to our coverage of the A570 IS announcement. UPDATED 2007-02-22 16:21ET: Some preliminary specifications have been updated with newer information. Availability has also been added to this item.